Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Following your ruling, I know there are other senators wanting to speak and I have some urgent things to do in my office, so I will leave for short while although I do have other questions on offsets that I want to come back to. Minister Wong, it is not that I do not like the answer you gave; it just does not make sense. One of the reasons you gave for having the domestic offsets integrity committee giving advice in making or amending was so that those involved might not think there is some political reason for doing it. I think you acknowledge that most farmers do not like your party, Minister Wong, but that is quite beside the point of the debate. I think in that instance you are very right and very correct. I think perhaps that is the only thing I have ever agreed with you on. That was your reason for having the domestic offsets integrity committee advise you on making or amending, and my question, which I think is quite reasonable, is: why then doesn’t the same reason apply when you revoke it? Perhaps other people might think there is a particular political motivation behind the doing.

What I am saying to you is: wouldn’t the legislation be better with the benefit of the advice of the independent and expert domestic offsets integrity committee in both cases? Perhaps that might have been the better way to do it, and I seek your further advice—if you are prepared to; you may just say you have already answered that question, in which case I will take it that you cannot or, for some reason, do not want to answer it.